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Liberal Arts announces Centennial Fellows, medalists

August 18, 2009

Liberal Arts announces Centennial Fellows, medalists

To celebrate its centennial this year, Penn State's College of the Liberal Arts has announced the selection of 22 Liberal Arts Centennial Fellows and seven Sparks Centennial Medalists whose significant accomplishments have made their communities and their professions better and whose lives have "swelled the fame" (a reference to a verse in the Alma Mater) of Penn State and the College of the Liberal Arts. They represent the achievements of more than 100,000 graduates of the college over 100 years and exemplify the life-long value of a liberal arts education.

The Liberal Arts Centennial Fellow Award honors the college's alumni, while the Sparks Centennial Medalist Award recognizes friends of the college who have provided significant leadership to the College of the Liberal Arts through their involvement and support of the college’s programs.

Following are the Liberal Arts Centennial Fellows:

--H. Jesse Arnelle,who graduated in 1955, retired senior partner with the civil litigation and public finance law firm of Arnelle, Hastie, McGee, Willis, and Greene of San Francisco and a member of Penn State’s Board of Trustees;

--Steven Brose, who graduated in 1969, partner and department head of Regulatory and Industry Affairs at Steptoe & Johnson, a Washington, D.C. law firm involving matters of the oil and gas pipeline industry;

--Ronald Filippelli,who graduated in 1960, retired associate dean of the College of the Liberal Arts and labor studies historian;

--Lewis H. Gold,who graduated in 1959, attorney with Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC, a top national full-service law firm, and former president of the Penn State Alumni Association;

--George Greer,who graduated in 1954, chair, Eden Hall Foundation and retired vice president of Heinz Company in Pittsburgh;

--David Krause,who graduated in 1969, senior vice president of R&D and chief medical officer of Zelos Therapeutics, which specializes in the development of innovative treatments for bone disorders and related treatment areas;

--Bonnie Marshall,who graduated in 1970, vice president for development for The Second Mile, a nonprofit organization serving at risk children and families, and former director of development in the College of the Liberal Arts;

--Valarie Swain-Cade McCoullum,who graduated in 1973, vice provost for university life, University of Pennsylvania;

--Kye Mitchell,who graduated in 1991, president of the Atlantic region for Kforce Professional Staffing, a national professional staffing firm in finance and information technology;

--David Morrell, who graduated in 1967, best-selling author of action thrillers including First Blood,which introduced action character Rambo, andBrotherhood of the Rose;

--Anne Riley,who graduated in 1964, retired English teacher with a 31-year career at State College Area High School, former president of the Penn State Alumni Association and member of the University’s Board of Trustees;

--Barry Robinson,who graduated in 1967, retired senior counsel for corporate affairs for the Recording Industry Association of America, Inc., and emeritus member of the University’s Board of Trustees;

--Raymond Robinson, who graduated in 1949 and earned his graduate degree in 1950, professor of American history at Northeastern University for more than 50 years;

--Eugene Chaiken, chairman and CEO of Almo Corporation in Philadelphia, one of the largest distributors of consumer electronics, major appliances, and wire and cable products, and a member of the University’s Board of Trustees;

Profiles of the Fellows and Medalists, including their service to Penn State and/or the College of the Liberal Arts, will be posted soon at http://www.la.psu.edu/CLA-Alumni/centennial/ online. The site also includes a brief history of the college, profiles of the alumni's favorite faculty and staff, key academic events this fall, and other Centennial updates.